Massage of the neck and neck area

Modern children move much less than their peers 15-20 years ago. Schooling is associated with a long static body position in a sitting posture; at home the child continues to sit - at the computer or in front of the TV. Few people prefer to play on the street in an exciting video game. Most of all, the cervical spine suffers from such a lifestyle. In this article we will tell you how to properly massage the neck and neck area for a child, and what problems it can cope with.

In school and preschool age, the load on the neck is large. As a result of prolonged sitting, and not always in the correct posture, the child's neck becomes numb, the memory is disturbed, the ability to learn is reduced, and unpleasant symptoms appear. Massage of the neck area helps to relieve headaches and relieve the child from dizziness. It restores the blood circulation of the brain, relieves back pain.

Complaints of fatigue children should not be regarded as a sign of his laziness, it is quite possible that these are the first symptoms of disorders in the cervical spine. Massage of the cervical zone allows you to relax the muscles that hold the vertebrae in the correct position. Vertebrae gradually take the right position.

Neck massage for babies is useful for developing the muscles of the back, neck, and shoulder groups. It strengthens the central nervous system, allows the child to quickly master new motor skills, removes hypertonicity. Massaging the cervical-collar zone is also useful for babies from one and a half years old, especially those who have difficulties with communication and speech - the sessions help to stimulate speech centers with an established RRD (delayed speech development).

The indications for this type of massage are osteochondrosis, increased physical exertion, back pain, scoliosis and neurasthenia.

Perform a child massage the neck and collar areas should be carefully, strictly following the rules and techniques of such exposure. Massage techniques for different age groups of children, there are different. Let's talk about them in more detail.

Mom should lay the baby on a flat hard surface on the tummy. The baby’s feet should be directed toward the mother. If the child is still very young, no more than two months old, you can only massage the neck in the supine position with one hand, the second mother should support the legs of the toddler. The very massage of crumbs to the age of two months should be limited only to superficial strokes.

Children's massage techniques are used classic, nothing exotic or too complicated in them. Begin a session with stroking the neck and shoulders, do it with soft circular and arcuate movements, without pressing. At the second stage, you can slightly increase the pressure and rub the palms of the neck and the shoulders of the crumbs. The next step is kneading. It allows you to improve the blood circulation of deep muscle fibers. Complete the massage with light tapping movements, which are carried out with the tips of the fingers.

When moving your hands from your head to your back, try to touch your palms, and when you move upward in the opposite direction - with the back of your hands.When rubbed, you can “write out” any geometric shapes with your fingertips, the main thing is that the movements should have one direction - from head to back, and not vice versa.

When kneading, you can use pinching techniques, you only need to carefully monitor the behavior and well-being of the child. If the toddler begins to cry or worry, reduce the intensity and strength of the effect, if this does not help, stop the massage and return to it when the child is in a good mood.

Massage only with warm hands. Cold touches will be unpleasant to the child. Use massage oil or cream, it will facilitate the gliding of hands when performing techniques and protect the delicate skin of the baby from microtrauma. End the session with gentle strokes.

Neck massage to infants should not last longer than 10 minutes. Start with 2-3 minutes and gradually bring the session to the specified time. Avoid pressure and vertebral rubbing.

The child is important to properly positioned in space. You can hold a massage for a lying child, who pulls hands along the body, you can do a massage in a sitting position. It is not necessary to choose chairs with backs for the second option, they will not ensure the correct location of the muscle groups of the neck-collar zone. It is better to use a stool.

In front of the sitting child there should be a table of such a height that the child could put his head on him in a sitting position Put a small pillow under your head. If there is no stool, use a high-backed chair with the child facing the back. Then he will be able to put his hands and head on her, opening up enough room for the masseur to act.

Massage techniques, as in the case of infants, belong to the classical and are performed according to the same pattern: stroking, rubbing, kneading and vibration effects. It is important to avoid massaging the vertebrae directly, and all movements should be carried out strictly from top to bottom - from the hairline to the shoulders. Try not to capture the area of ​​the blades.

The directions of movement are: from the edge of hair growth along the spine downward, along the arc to the shoulders, shoulder muscles, shoulder joints. It is rather difficult to convince a preschooler to completely relax, and therefore for children under 7 years old it is better to do a massage while lying on the stomach. From 8-10 years it is possible to conduct sessions in a sitting position.

Stroking in the first stage should be done with your fingers and palm, moving from the head down and from the head to the shoulders. Rubbing done with clenched fists. Kneading should be carried out with your fingers, gently grabbing the muscles of the neck area. Vibrating tapping at the final stage of a massage session is complemented by a slight “shaking” of the captured muscle. Avoid too fast transition from stage to stage - "overheated" muscles are easily injured.

The duration of the treatment session for a child of preschool and school age is 15-25 minutes. The most painful part of the session is kneading. If the child already has abnormalities in the spinal column, the neck muscles can be very tense. In this case, you need to focus on the individual response - if it hurts, you should reduce the impact force.

Massage of the cervical zone is contraindicated if the child has tumors and neoplasms, there are wounds or abrasions on the neck. Children with heart disease are also contraindicated for this type of massage.

If a child in the acute stage has any illnesses, especially those associated with fever, the session should be canceled before recovery.Teenage girls do not receive collar zone massage during menstruation.

Do not hold a massage of the neck area for children with impaired central nervous system. With cerebral palsy, exceptions are made, but the massage has a number of specific features that are difficult for a non-professional to master at home.

With all the seeming simplicity of the neck massage technique, parents who have never studied this can make mistakes, and this mistake can cost the baby dearly. Therefore, it will be quite useful to visit a massage room in the clinic or in a private clinic with your child at least once or to call a massage therapist at home. This will be quite enough to see how professionals work. Feel free to ask the specialist what, why, why and how he does. After that, taking into account the technique described above, you can safely proceed to self-massaging.

Independent therapeutic massage is prohibited only in exceptional cases, for example, with short neck syndrome in an infant, if vertebrae in the cervical region are damaged as a result of injury or congenital disease. This massage should be done by a specialist, the treatment should be monitored by a neurologist.

The technique of performing massage of the neck and neck area can be viewed in the next video.